West African governments should ensure rights protections as a crucial element in controlling the unprecedented Ebola epidemic ravaging the region. Human Rights Watch expressed its sympathy to the families, friends, and colleagues of those who have died as a result of the Ebola outbreak, and recognized the courage of many health workers and others in caring for the sick.

Liberia

The Belgian authorities’ arrest of a Liberian for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Liberia’s first civil war is a major advance for justice. It is the first arrest for crimes that violate international law committed during the conflict in Liberia from 1989 to 1996, which left tens of thousands dead.

West African governments should ensure rights protections as a crucial element in controlling the unprecedented Ebola epidemic ravaging the region. Human Rights Watch expressed its sympathy to the families, friends, and colleagues of those who have died as a result of the Ebola outbreak, and recognized the courage of many health workers and others in caring for the sick.

From the soft-drink sellers to the shoe salesmen to the motorcycle taxi drivers to the smallest kids who get what they can for sticks of chewing gum, the experience is the same: the uniformed officers of the Liberia National Police are widely seen as predators, not protectors.

Liberia should promptly revise its libel laws to meet international standards for freedom of expression and the media, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Global Witness said in a letter to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The groups urged President Sirleaf to press for the reform of libel laws and procedure to prevent excessive judgments and restrictions on appeals from undermining free speech rights.

Nearly every day, police officers in Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, demand money – in the form of extortion or bribes – from Alex, a friendly motorcycle taxi driver in his early 20s. Sometimes, the police block the road with a rope or a big stick, forcing him to stop. They level made-up fines, often between US$2.50 and $4, saying, “You have on the wrong helmet,” or “You have the wrong shoes.” On these days, the police take home nearly all of Alex’s earnings – leaving him with nothing pay for food or his school fees.

Rampant police corruption denies Liberians equal and impartial justice and impedes the country’s postwar development, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The Liberian government should rein in police corruption and related abuses before the planned drawdown starting in 2013 of the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).